Go To Businessweek.com
Undergraduate Profile Publish Date 05/27/12

Fairfield University

Dolan School of Business

  • Program Basics

      • Charles F. Dolan School of Business
      • Charles F. Dolan School of Business
      • 1073 North Benson Road
      • Fairfield, Connecticut
      • 06824
      • United States
      • Program Web site: http://www.fairfield.edu
      • Program phone number: 203-254-4070
      • Status: Private
      • AACSB accredited: Yes
      • Year in which the undergraduate business program was founded: 1978
      • Institution: Four Year
      • Business Program: Four Year

  • SCHOOL BASICS

    • Enrollment:

      • Total undergraduate: 3,835
      • Full-time undergraduate business: 1,034
      • Part-time undergraduate business: 168
      • College or university freshman retention rate: 88 %

    • Percentage of students who graduate from the business program:

      • Within four years of admission to the university: 80 %
      • Within six years of admission to the university: 86 %

    • Undergraduate Business Degrees Offered:

      • BA/Accounting
      • BS/Information Systems
      • BS/International Business
      • BS/Finance
      • BS/Management
      • BS/Marketing

  • PROGRAM COSTS

      • Annual Tuition (Resident): $39,900.00
      • Annual Required Fees: $590.00
      • Tuition Per Academic Credit (Resident): $755.00
      • Annual Room and Board: $12,210.00
      • Annual Cost of Books: $1,100.00

  • CLASS PROFILE

    • Students in newest entering class that are:

      • Female: 44 %

    • Mean and median age of full-time business students in the newest entering class:

      • Mean: 18
      • Median: 18

    • Percentage of newest entering class:

      • GPA of 3.75 or higher: 14 %
      • GPA of 3.5 to 3.74: 19 %

    • SAT scores (1600 scale) for the newest entering class of full-time undergraduate business students:

      • Mean: 1150
      • Median: 1140

    • Middle 50% range of SAT scores (1600 scale):

      • From: 540
      • To: 615

    • ACT scores for the newest entering class of full-time undergraduate business students:

      • Mean: 25
      • Median: 24

    • Middle 50% range of ACT scores:

      • From: 23
      • To: 26

    • Citizenship breakdown for newest entering class:

      • US: 99 %
      • Other Non-US Citizens: 1 %

    • U.S. citizens in newest entering class:

      • African American: 2 %
      • Asian American: 1 %
      • Hispanic or Latino American: 7 %
      • White (Non-Hispanic): 75 %
      • Chose not to report: 14 %
      • Other: 1 %

    • Regional breakdown of U.S. citizens in newest entering class:

      • Northeast: 93 %
      • Mid-Atlantic: 4 %
      • South: 1 %
      • West: 1 %
      • Possessions and territories: 1 %

  • ADMISSIONS - Getting Into the Institution

      • Minimum High School GPA (if applicable) required for admission: 3.0
      • Interviews are: Recommended

    • Application deadlines:

      • Fall 2012 1/15/2012
      • Total undergraduate applicants, all programs: 8,486
      • Percentage of applicants admitted: 69 %
      • Percentage of admitted applicants who enrolled: 15 %
      • Female applicants: 44 %

    • Relative Importance of Application Elements

      • Secondary school record: Very Important
      • Class rank: Considered
      • Talent/ability: Important
      • Interview: Important
      • Extracurricular activities: Important
      • Volunteer work: Important
      • Character/personal abilities: Important
      • Application essay: Very Important
      • Work experience: Important
      • SAT/ACT scores: Considered
      • Recommendations: Very Important
      • High school GPA: Very Important

  • ADMISSIONS - Getting Into the Business Program

      • Undergrad business program admissions are managed by: The university admissions office
      • Total undergraduate business applicants: 2,061
      • Percentage of applicants admitted: 73 %
      • Percentage of admitted applicants who enrolled: 18 %

    • Admission requirement for admission to the undergraduate business program

      • Minimum high school GPA: 3.0
      • Entrance exam other than the SAT/ACT required for admission to the undergraduate business program?: No
      • Admissions interviews for the undergraduate business program are: Recommended

    • Freshman admission:

      • Does the business program admit freshmen?: Yes
      • Percentage of business program admits in most recent entering class who were freshman: 42 %
      • Are freshman business admits required to complete or obtain minimum GPAs in pre-business courses before taking upper-level courses? Yes
      • Process for freshmen admission?: Indicate interest on university application

    • Internal transfers:

      • Method for handling internal transfers: Declare business major
      • Minimum college GPA for internal transfers to the business program: 2.80

  • CAMPUS LIFE

    • Five largest on-campus organizations for business students:

      • Beta Gamma Sigma
      • Beta Alpha Psi
      • Business Plan Competition/Entrepreneurship Club
      • Departmental Clubs
      • The Fairfield Investment Group
      • Are freshmen required to live on campus?: Yes
      • Are business students grouped together in 'learning communities' in housing and other facilities?: Yes

  • PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

    • Minimum number of credit hours required to receive an undergraduate business degree:

      • BS 123

    • Other requirements for the undergraduate business degree

      • Minimum of 41 3- or 4-credit courses and a minimum of 123 credits; successful completion of the University core curriculum, business core curriculum, major requirements, 4 free electives, 1 business elective.

  • ACADEMICS

    • Average class size:

      • Required business classes: 25
      • Business electives: 22

    • Percentage of business classes:

      • With 20 or fewer students: 27 %
      • With 21 to 50 students: 73 %
      • With more than 50 students: 0 %

  • CURRICULUM

    • Electives:

      • Available business electives: 52
      • New electives: Nonprofit Organizations
      • Last curriculum overhaul: 2004
      • Total business faculty: 68
      • Percentage of the total faculty that is tenured or tenure track: 62 %

    • Most prominent faculty:

      • Arjun Chaudhuri, Ph.D.
      • Gregory Koutmos, Ph.D.
      • Winston Tellis, Ph.D.

    • Business program's leading areas of study:

        • Accounting
        • Finance
        • Marketing
        • General Management
        • International Business
      • Other leading area of study: Entrepreneurship
      • Special programs: Internship Program, International Education Opportunties and Service Learning Courses/Trips. Special events and programs include the Sophomore Symposia, Competitive Edge Dinner, Business Plan Competition, Dolan Lecture Series, and DSB Advisory Council sponsored events/panels/lectures.
      • Work study: Fairfield University offers federal work study positions to students demonstrating financial need. The Dolan School of Business offers graduate assistantships to graduate students only.
      • Study abroad programs: Fairfield University offers exceptional international educational opportunities. Students may choose from an extensive list of Fairfield affiliated programs around the world. Business programs are offered in Rouen, France, Barcelona, Spain, and Maastricht, Netherlands.
      • Volunteer opportunities: Community service and service learning opportunities/trips are available through Campus Ministry, the Center for Faith and Public Life, and University clubs/organizations. Service learning courses offered through the Dolan School of Business include Technology and Society, Federal Income Tax II, and International Information Systems.

    • Extra-curricular activities:

      • Departmental Clubs
      • Business Plan Competition
      • The Fairfield Investment Group
      • New York Society of Security Analysts
      • Assoc. of Latino Professionals in Accounting and Finance
      • Young Business Leaders
      • Entrepreneurship Club

  • FINANCIAL AID

    • Scholarships

      • Scholarship money distributed to business students last year: $11,825,000.00
      • Expected scholarship distribution to business students this year: $12,427,000.00
      • Scholarships are awarded to business students based on: a combination of need and merit
      • Other criteria for scholarship consideration: Magis Scholarship recognizes student leadership combined with academic excellence.
      • Students receiving institutional scholarships in the current academic year: 57 %
      • Students receiving full-tuition institutional scholarships in the current academic year: 1 %
      • Institutional scholarship money distributed to undergraduate business students based on need: 80 %
      • Institutional scholarship money distributed to undergraduate business students based on merit: 20 %

    • Loans

      • Does the school offer a guaranteed loan to all business students, regardless of nationality?: No
      • Mean outstanding debt, most recent graduating class: $31,099.00

  • CAREER SERVICES

    • Employment Information

      • Percentage of most recent business graduates who supplied information regarding employment: 77 %
      • Percentage seeking full-time professional employment in business: 75 %
      • Percentage not seeking full-time professional employment in business: 25 %

    • Received first job offer:

      • More than 3 months after graduation : 100 %

    • Accepted first job offer:

      • More than 3 months after graduation: 100 %
      • Companies recruiting business students on campus: 55
      • Companies posting job offers for business students on school job boards: 951

    • Top employers (number of students hired):

      • PricewaterhouseCoopers 11
      • UBS 11
      • GE 10
      • Yale New Haven Hospital 7
      • BNY Mellon 5
      • JP Morgan Chase 4
      • Ernst & Young 5
      • Target 4
      • Goldman Sachs 2
      • KPMG 4
      • Morgan Stanley Smith Barney 2
      • Legg Mason 2
      • ESPN 2
      • OMD Worldwide 2
      • Time Inc 1

    • Compensation

      • Mean base salary: $46,689.00
      • Median base salary : $55,000.00
      • Mean signing bonus: $5,000.00
      • Median signing bonus: $5,000.00

    • Most recent graduates accepted jobs in the following functional areas:

      • Consulting: 2 %
      • Finance/Accounting: 62 %
      • General Management: 5 %
      • Management Information Systems: 1 %
      • Marketing/Sales: 29 %
      • Operations/Production: 1 %

    • Most recent graduates accepted jobs in the following industries:

      • Accounting: 13 %
      • Consumer Products/Retail : 9 %
      • Consulting: 3 %
      • Financial Services: 41 %
      • Government/Education: 1 %
      • Pharma/Biotech/Health: 4 %
      • Manufacturing: 4 %
      • Media/Entertainment: 16 %
      • Petroleum/Energy: 2 %
      • Sports/Leisure: 1 %
      • Technology/Science: 3 %
      • Non-Profit: 2 %
      • Utilities: 1 %
      • Career services offered: Individual Counseling, 2 Career Fairs, MBII, Strong, Resume and Interview Prep, Career Panels, Alumni Networking Events, Online Job Database, Library Resource of Books, Computer Workroom, Fax/Scanners

  • INTERNSHIPS

    • Internship pay

      • Internships that are paid: 60 %
      • Mean compensation, per week, for paid internships only: $200.00
      • Average internship length, in weeks: 12

  • B-SCHOOL ALUMNI

      • Total number of undergraduate business program graduates since inception: 7,745
      • Total living alumni of the undergraduate business program: 7,685
      • Percentage of living alumni who contributed to the business program or university in the last academic year: 14 %

    • Alumni gifts

      • Mean Gift: $1,714.00
      • Median Gift: $125.00
      • Did the business program receive a gift of $10 million or more in the last academic year? No

    • Prominent alums of the undergrad business program

      • Joseph A. DiMenna Managing Director, Zweig-DiMenna Associates, LLC
      • John G. Petti, III Vice Chairman & Senior Proprietary Trader, Phibro, LLC
      • Patricia Glassford Vice President & CFO, GE Restructuring Operations

Getting In

B-School Life

Finding a Job

Paying the Bills